1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to server systems used in providing access to data/service on networks, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for facilitating identification of entire web pages when each web page is rendered from multiple portions and interest is expressed based on content of the portions.
2. Related Art
Internet generally enables data and services to be accessed from various servers. In one common scenario, a user uses a browser software on a client system to specify a web page of interest, and the corresponding Uniform Resource Locator (URL) (along with any parameters) are transferred to a corresponding server system. The server system generally contains a page definition indicating the specific portions that together form each web page, and the area on the web page in which each portion is to be laid out.
In response to receiving the URL, a server system may retrieve different portions of data (representing text, image, etc.) from potentially multiple content servers and generates a web page of interest according to the corresponding page definition. The server system then sends the web page to the client system requesting the page, and the page is rendered on the client system. Using such an approach, a user may view multiple web pages, with each page containing several portions potentially retrieved from several sources.
One typical requirement is to enable a user to search the web pages previously displayed. In one prior approach, a server system determines various parameters (e.g., the identity of the user, parameters specified by the user, prior searches performed) to base a search on, and compares the data with different portions stored on the content servers. The URL corresponding to the matching portions is then displayed to the user, potentially for further browsing.
However, a user may have developed interest for desired content based on an entire content of the web page, and may thus wish to view the entire web page. Accordingly, the approach of above may be deemed to be inadequate at least in some scenarios such as in the case of dynamic web pages, in which the content of a web page is determined dynamically when the page is assembled. What is therefore needed is a method and approach which facilitates identification of entire web pages when each web page is rendered from multiple portions and interest is expressed based on content of the portions.
In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.